A couple more letters regarding Anna

My next post was going to start my posts regarding Anna's parents, my 2nd great-grandparents Emil and Hilma Burke.  I have the glorious "problem" of having too many pictures, letters and other items regarding them for me to even know where I'm going to start.  Unlike most of my ancestors I've blogged about, I'm probably going to have to have multiple blogs for both.

Today I was organizing some letters and came upon 2 letters regarding Anna that I've had for 2.5 years and apparently didn't read through very well.  I was surprised to see Anna's cause of death was cancer when I finally got her death certificate.  After reading her letter to her sisters Ruth and Mildred in Lansing MI I should have already known it.  She talks about pain she's had in her breast for 4 years, although the last 6-8 months it really bothered her so she went to the doctor and had surgery scheduled. 

Forgive the order of the pages (in this and the following letter).  This was written in December of 1952 and the paper that was used isn't something I could easily scan in order.

 This letter was written by Anna's sister Ellen (Burke) Johnson to her sister Ruth (Burke) Warren.  Much of the letter is regarding Anna ("Annie") and her issues.  Ellen seems to be the one that's trying to get Anna placed somewhere to be cared for.  She's concerned that Anna is going to end up in a convalescent home at a cost of $100/month.  She writes that all Anna wants is nerve pills, pain pills and cigarettes and that she's not eating enough.  It almost sounds like they'd get her placed and she'd find a way to get out.

What really strikes me about this letter is that Ellen seems to be the person responsible for her.
Both of their parents were still living, albeit elderly (and living in Muskegon - Ellen was in Grand Rapids, just a few blocks from my grandpa, Anna's only child).  Obviously my grandpa must not have been handling things with his mother and he never mentioned her illness.  He would have had a 2 year old and an infant at home at the time of this letter.  I wonder now if when my grandma describes Anna "swinging around" the baby in the room if it wasn't pain pills, not alcohol.  It sounds like her cancer would have been pretty advanced by this point.  I'm not sure who "Otto" is that Ellen references, but Anna was allegedly still married to Stanley Ratajczak at this time.  How sad to think that she died with virtually nobody wanting to take her or help her.  Was this due to her causing problems?  Burning bridges?  I'll obviously never know but the more I learn about the end of Anna's life, the worse I feel for her.  None of my other ancestors have as sad a story as Anna apparently did.  I hope and pray she's at peace.